


In Too Deep

by purpleeyesandbowties



Category: EOS 10, EOS 10 podcast
Genre: M/M, Post-Season 2, im really sorry about the title, im sorry honestly, this got kinda out of hand, this is the first fic for EOS 10 if i'm not mistaken
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 13:57:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4748897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purpleeyesandbowties/pseuds/purpleeyesandbowties
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After losing an important patient, Ryan begins receiving death threats. His friends take it upon themselves to keep him safe.  Secrets are spilled, made, discovered, and laughed at.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Too Deep

**Author's Note:**

> shout out to heir-to-the-diamond-throne for making this better trash than it would have been without a beta. again, i'm really sorry. i'm sadhipstercat on tumblr, come talk to me!

Physicians made a surprising number of enemies. Though perhaps it wasn’t all that surprising. After all, doctors were often the ones to blame when patients didn’t make it. As it was, most of the doctors on EOS 10 were no strangers to threats. (Except Dr. Osolong, who in addition to being handsome, funny, kind and smart, never made mistakes in his work. And besides that, plastic surgery was not the most deadly of practices).

So it really wasn’t that much of a surprise when Ryan started getting death threats. Not after what had happened. He’d been the attending doctor when they had lost a princex visiting Eos 10. The Aldorian princex had contracted an infection in their lungs shortly after arriving, a disease quite fatal to their species. There was little to be done—the princex was dead within a week. Not long after that, the threats started arriving. Notes, messages, hacked intercoms, holograms; there was no end to them. The princex had left behind many loyal and heartbroken citizens.

\--

Ryan opened the door to his room and stopped just short of running directly into his own deposed prince.

“Good morning, Dr. Dalias. I have a favor to ask. Will you kill me?”

“Levi, _what_ are you talking about?” Ryan asked. It was too early for Levi’s shenanigans, and already he was getting a headache.

“It’s just that that crowd of angry rioters calling for your head seem very passionate about their lost princex. If you were to kill me as well, should not my own citizens be similarly affected?”

“I am not going to _kill_ you, Levi. You can’t earn the love of your kingdom back by dying. What would be the point?”

“The point is that they would love me again.”

“Yeah, but you’d be _dead_.”

“Oh. I did not think of that. But I _have_ died before. Maybe it will work out like last time.”

“Unlikely. Anyway, Levi, is there anything else you need? I’m kind of busy right now.”

“Trying to leave the safety of your room to get to work, I know. I have been sent to be your bodyguard for the time being.”

“Sent? By who?”

“By me,” two voices from opposite sides of the hall announced. Jane and Dr. Urvidian looked at each other in surprise.

Levi nodded vigorously. “Yes, well, Doctor Urvidian and Nurse Johns both approached me separately. Little did they know, I was already planning the same thing!”

“It seems that we have—separately and collectively—decided to escort you to work to ensure your personal safety.”

“ _Escort_ me—Dr. Urvidian, I do not _need_ a babysitter. This is hardly my first time dealing with protestors. Remember, I’m the ‘Dauntless Defiler’.”

“This is a whole new ball game, Ryan,” Jane interjected. “It’s not like last time. Princex Leonon was adored by pretty much everyone. These guys aren’t here to shout insults and throw eggs at you. They’re here to kill you.”

“I can confirm that someone tried to slip poison into your rations just yesterday, Dr. Dalias. You are very lucky I was in the kitchen at the time, and that I was able to detect the poison! It completely ruined my crème sauce. I had to throw out the whole batch!”

“Thank you, Levi. I know how much of an inconvenience that must have been for you,” Ryan said dryly.

Levi sniffed importantly. “Anything for a friend, Dr. Dalias.”

Dr. Urvidian held up a hand. “As your commanding officer, I say that you must be accompanied by one or more of us at all times when you are outside of your living quarters.”

“That—that is _so_ not happening.”

“It _so is_ ,” confirmed Jane, hooking her arm around Ryan’s.

“It is either this, or I will have you taken from active rotation until this all blows over.”

Ryan sighed deeply, rubbing his (perfectly normal-sized, thank you) forehead with his free hand.

“Fine. Whatever. Jane, Levi, let’s go.” He shot a look of exasperated anger at Dr. Urvidian as they left.

Urvidian sighed as well, wishing for the millionth time that he could have a drink. The pull of it had lessened over time, but it was still ever-present. “I’m just doing what must be done, boy,” he muttered. “What has to be done to keep you safe.”

\--

“Well, that was fun,” chirped Jane, finally letting go of Ryan’s arm. Ryan just shook his head wordlessly. After a long, boring day at the infirmary—their only patient an emergency C-section—and the headache inducing chants of the protestors as background noise, Ryan was ready to flop on his bed and sleep for a week. Especially after having to endure Levi’s cooking. He’d insisted on making all of Ryan’s meals by himself to ensure his safety. And while the meals were definitely poison-free, Ryan was pretty sure Levi was better cut out to be a dishwasher than a cook after all.

“Well, goodnight, see you tomorrow,” Ryan said, his door already halfway open.

“Wait! I thought….that we could have a sleepover! Wouldn’t that be fun, Ryan, old buddy, old pal?”

“No! Jane, I’ll be fine. My room is safe. _I_ am safe. Everything is fine. Go away.”

“But, Ryan—” Jane started, desperation creeping into her voice.

“I can take care of myself, Jane. I know you want to help and I really _do_ appreciate it, but there’s nothing to help with. Go get some sleep, okay? We’ll both need it for tomorrow.”

“Alright, fine. But if you’re dead in the morning, I’ll kill you myself.”

“Deal. Goodnight.”

\--

Ryan closed the door behind him and sagged against it, tension leaving him in a rush of air. He stayed there a moment, eyes closed, savoring the quiet. Then he straightened up.

“ _Jesus f—_ Akmazian, what are you doing here?” he demanded.

“Good to see you, too, darlin’.” Akmazian said from where he was sprawled on Ryan’s bed. Petting his _cat._

Ryan stalked over and snatched Morpheus from Akmazian’s hands.

“Traitor,” he muttered to the cat. Then to the man, he said, “How did you even get in here? The Interface should have alerted me.”

Akmazian smiled at him lazily, the self-satisfied cocky bastard.

“I mighta calibrated the Interface to ignore my genetic signature. She doesn’t even know I’m on EOS 10 again.”

“You can do that?” Ryan asked, impressed despite himself.

“I’m a man of many talents, Dr. Dalias. If you don’t know that by now, you’re a hell of a lot dumber than you look.”

“I…think there was a compliment in there.”

“Flirtation more like it. But semantics. That’s not what I’m here for.”

“Yeah, what _are_ you here for?” Ryan asked, crossing his arms to hide how flustered he was.

 

There was something about Akmazian that always threw him off. He was always so…suave. Collected. Best goddamn poker face Ryan’d ever seen. He always gave off the air of someone who knew your plan before you did. The first few times he encountered Akmazian, his stomach churned in a combination of intimidation, annoyance, hatred, and embarrassment. Over time, Akmazian had proven himself to be not quite as evil as Ryan had first thought. The hatred slowly replaced itself with begrudging respect. The intimidation faded away and somehow became trust. The embarrassment of their first meeting would probably be forever ingrained in him but it was more manageable now. And of course Akmazian would always be annoying. 

And since coming back from shore leave, there was one more emotion he had to own up to. The uncomfortable feeling in his gut—medically, a chemical mixture of adrenaline and cortisol, along with shortness of breath and dizziness from the rush of blood to his brain—in layman’s terms, _butterflies in his stomach_. Infatuation. Goddamnit.

 

Ryan waited for Akmazian to respond to his question. For once, Akmazian seemed lost for words. After a long pause, Ryan crossed the room and pulled the door open. “Leave.”

“Why?”

“You’re here to ‘protect’ me or whatever, too. I don’t need it! I can take care of myself.”

Akmazian growled, “No. If I can get in here undetected, so can someone else. You can’t protect yourself an’ sleep at the same time.”

“So you are in on this, are you? You’re working with Jane, Levi, Urvidian. All of you had a secret meeting; how are we going to protect poor little Ryan?”

“Why are you so against this, anyway? Why won’t you let your friends help you?”

“You’re _not_ my friend.”

“Answer the question.”

“Shut up!”

“Do you feel like you deserve it? Do you feel guilty about the dead princex? Have you convinced yourself that you need to pay your penance?”

“Shut the fuck up!”

“How far are you gonna to let them go? You gonna let them kill you?”

Akmazian took a step closer with each word until he was right in front of Ryan. He slammed his hands against the wall, bracketing Ryan in and shutting the door again.

“Are you?” he snarled, enunciating each word. “Are you going to let them kill you? Why?”

Ryan shoved him away, angry tears filling his vision. “I knew them!” he shouted.

Suddenly too tired to fight it anymore, he slid down to the floor, curling up on himself and shaking with tears. He felt Akmazian slowly settle down next to him. He didn’t push, didn’t ask. He just sat there and waited. Eventually the tears subsided.

Without preamble, Ryan launched into his story.

“A few months ago, I took a shore leave on the insistence of Dr. Urvidian. It was good for me. I went to Crystal Fjords for a few days. On the beach, I met a very nice young Aldorian. We hit it off right away and….ended up spending the night together. And the next night. And most of the next day. And—and anyway, I really liked them. I knew they were Princex Leonon, of course. But they didn’t bring it up, so I didn’t either. We parted on good terms, a harmless summer fling. Until they landed in my infirmary with a disease I couldn’t cure.”

“I’m sorry, Ryan.”

Ryan shook his head. “We spent a long weekend together. It’s not like I loved them or anything.”

“Just ‘cause you didn’t love them doesn’t mean it don’t hurt.”

There was another silence. Akmazian said, “And lettin’ their subjects kill you ain’t gonna bring them back. You dyin’ would only break more hearts than what’re already broken.”

“Nobody said _anything_ about broken hearts.”

“I did.”

Ryan scoffed. “What, would it break your heart if I died?”

“Akmazian?”

“It might hurt a lot more than I’m willin’ to admit.”

 Akmazian’s voice was quiet, brittle. All the swagger and pomp he carried around was gone. Ryan had never heard him sound so human before.

“I…wow. I didn’t know that….”

“Didn’t know that I got a thing for you? Maybe you really are that dumb.”

“I. Um.”

Akmazian stood up, posture stiff. “I apologize for botherin’ you, Dr. Dalias. I’ll see myself out. And don’t worry, I won’t be annoyin’ you any longer.”

Akmazian was two steps from the door before Ryan’s brain caught up. He jumped up, grabbed Akmazian’s arm, and spun him around.

“What’re you—?”

Ryan kissed him. Akmazian’s next words came out as a surprised grunt. He pulled back far too soon.

“What the fuck was that?”

“All those times you flirted me, you were really flirting with me?”

“Yeah, but—why did you—Ryan!” Akmazian took him by the shoulders. “You’re not thinking straight.”

Ryan let out a strangled laugh. “Hell yeah, I’m not.”

“I mean it. You just lost someone you had an emotional connection to, you’re being hunted by that person’s subjects, and you haven’t slept more than four hours at a time in over a week.”

“So?”

“So, you’re going to regret all of this later. You just want physical comfort, which you now know I can’t refuse you. It’s not a good idea. For either of us.”

“Fuck that!” declared Ryan. “It’s because of Leonon that I know I’m queer. They helped me through it when I tried to run from how I felt. How I felt about you.”

“….What?”

Ryan sighed, steeling himself. He had hoped to avoid this conversation indefinitely.

“Somewhere between my father’s funeral and when I left for shore, I started to feel….things. For you. So I decided to test my sexuality if the opportunity arose. When I met Leonon, it was like fate. I told them all about how scared I was about the way I felt, that I wasn’t even sure if what I felt was real. They got me through it. Before, I thought I only liked girls and that was it. But then, you—I thought maybe you were an exception to the rule. But then I met Leonon, and I knew it wasn’t just a fluke. I like you, Akmazian.”

“You…. _like_ me? Like, _like me_ , like me?”

“Yeah, I like you, like you. Even with the middle-school lingo.”

Akmazian grinned, wide and bright. It was probably the first real smile Ryan had ever seen from him. Ryan laughed. “You have a stupid smile.”

“Shut up.”

“Make me.”

“Don’t think I won’t.”

“Go ahead.”

Akmazian shut him up with a kiss. A real kiss this time. The first kiss had been a haphazard clashing of lips. _This_ was a proper kiss.

He kissed Ryan delicately, carefully; like he thought Ryan would shove him off at any moment. Ryan let his eyes slide shut, arms bringing Akmazian closer to him, tilting his head for a better angle. He deepened the kiss, and Akmazian responded accordingly. His hands traveled down Ryan’s back to his waist, his hips.

After a few timeless moments, they pulled away. Breathless and a little dizzy, Ryan shook his head.

“Wow.” He said. “Uh. Wow.”

Akmazian nodded in agreement.

“So, you really didn’t think I was flirtin’ with you?” Akmazian asked, amusement creeping into his voice.

“Not really. I mean, I _knew_ you were flirting, but I thought it was to throw me off my guard or something.”

Akmazian smiled that unguarded, honest smile again.

Suddenly, the past few days of non-stop worrying and poor sleep caught up with Ryan. He yawned, covering his mouth belatedly.

“Geez, I’m sorry. I’m not bored, I promise, like the opposite of that—”

“Go to bed, Ryan. It’s fine.”

Ryan bit his lip, ignoring how Akmazian’s eyes jumped to it.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep with you ‘guarding’ me or whatever.”

“I’ll be right outside if you need anythin’.”

“Thanks. Goodnight, Akmazian.”

“Night, Ryan.”

\--

The next day at lunch, Jane grabbed them both food and they camped out in a secluded hallway that overlooked the food court proper.  A few bites into the meal, she said, “Hey, Ryan, did you happen to notice anything strange last night?”

“….Strange, how?”

“Um. I don’t want to scare you or anything, but we think maybe there was someone in your room last night. I mean, the Interface clocked the door opening in the middle of the night, but no one came out. It was probably just an error right? The Interface can be wrong, can’t she? Like, it probably wasn’t the dry run of an assassin making sure he could get in and out, right?”

“Jane. It was just Akmazian. He’s in on your little ‘protect Ryan’ scheme, isn’t he?”

Jane gave him a funny look. “No? I didn’t know he was even back on Eos 10. What was he doing in your room?”

Ryan coughed, feeling his face heat up. “Nothing. He just heard that there were some threats and wanted to check up with me.”

“Hmm. Okay…” she said, dragging the word out. “If that’s all it was…”

“That’s all it was,” Ryan confirmed, shoving a large spoonful of Gim-Jah into his mouth. He suppressed a gag and smiled serenely at Jane. She gave him one last searching look before turning back to her own meal.

“Hey, speak of the devil,” she said, pointing down the hall with her spoon. “Robin Hood. I wonder what’s up.”

Ryan choked on his Gim-Jah. By the time he’d finished coughing, Akmazian was settling down next to them like it was a regular Tuesday afternoon for him.

“Hey, Akmazian. What’s up? Need our help escaping from EOS 10 again? Found a lead on the conspiracy?”

“Nurse Johns. Nothin’s up. Can’t a man enjoy a lunch date?”

She scoffed. “Well, first, he’s gotta find a date to have lunch with.”

“Hey, isn’t that Dr. Osolong down there by the salad bar? I think he’s by himself,” Ryan said hurriedly before Akmazian could say anything.

“Really? I gotta go, this is my chance! Bye, guys!”

As soon as she was gone, Akmazian turned to Ryan.

“Now, what was that about? You don’t want Jane to know about us?”

“It’s not that. Okay, it kinda is. But you know how Jane is. The whole station will know we’re together by the end of the day. Which is bad because you are still technically a wanted criminal. Who isn’t even supposed to be here.”

He paused, absently stirring his Gim-Jah. “And, well. This is new. Like, _really_ new. We haven’t even been on a date yet.”

“We’re doin’ that right now, ain’t we?”

Ryan shook his head. “Yeah, great first date. A bowl of Gim-Jah and you’re wearing a disguise.”

“How about I make it a better first date?”

“I’m listening.”

“You’ve got no patients to attend to, Nurse Johns and Dr. Urvidian are on call for the rest of the day, and with the group of homicidal maniacs after you they won’t argue if you decide to take a personal day.”

“You know the duty rotation schedule?”

“Hey, I’m a details person. Memorized it when I was in your room last night.”

Ryan sighed. He tapped his comm bracelet. “Nurse Jane Johns, please. Hey, Jane.”

“Ryan! What’s up, make it fast, I’m sitting with Osolong.”

“I’m just going to take the rest of the day off, okay?”

“Huh? Yeah, okay.” she said distractedly. “I’ll check in with you later.”

Akmazian winked at Ryan. “Good call. Now, let’s go. I want to slip into something….a bit more comfortable.”

\--

They spent a good chunk of the afternoon making out like teenagers. And doing other things like teenagers. In between make out sessions, they lay side-by-side on Ryan’s bed, talking. Despite all the shit they’d been through together, they honestly didn’t know each other all that well.

So Ryan told him about growing up split between two hard-headed parents. Akmazian recounted his childhood of small towns and hot deserts and hard work. Ryan said that he spoke French fluently, which Akmazian demanded to hear, and that distracted them for another half-hour. Catching their breath afterwards, Ryan picked up his story at going to college and his accident. At that, Akmazian flipped him over and gently traced a finger over the scar that ran from his neck all the way down his back. He pressed his lips against the raised tissue, making Ryan shiver. Akmazian pointed out all his numerous scars and how he’d gotten them. Ryan summed up his addiction in a few short, choppy sentences. Akmazian didn’t ask for more. Instead, he confided that he had lost his first love right before they were supposed to get married, almost two decades ago.

“What happened? Did he die?”

“Die? No. He left me at the altar. Almost literally. It was the day before and he came to see me. ‘I met someone’ he says, and looks down and I know it’s over. But we were nineteen, there was no way we wouldn’t have fallen apart somewhere along the way.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Sometimes I wonder where he is now. If he’s happy. If he believes I’m the criminal everyone thinks I am.”

“We’ll clear your name. I swear we will,” Ryan said, taking Akmazian’s hand. Akmazian lifted their tangled fingers and pressed a kiss on the back of Ryan’s hand.

“Darlin’, you’re a dream come true.”

\--

“Interface!”

“Yes, Nurse Johns?”

“Ryan isn’t answering his comm. Do you know where he is?”

“Ryan’s in his room.”

“Is he okay? He knows to answer my comms.”

“I’m unable to see into Ryan’s room. His privacy shield is up.”

“What are his vitals?”

“Hold on a moment….his heartbeat and blood pressure are both elevated above the norm. His breathing is shorter than normal. He appears to be in distress.”

“Shit. Shit shit shit! Tell me he’s alone!” Jane said, sprinting down the hallway to Ryan’s room.

“My sensors have been tampered with recently, so I cannot say for certain. If I had to extrapolate from the level of his vitals, I would guess that it is most likely there is someone in there with him causing him distress.”

The Interface was trying hard not to sound emotional, because the hallway was public enough that others might hear their conversation. But Jane heard the note of worry in her voice.

“Don’t worry, I am _on_ it!”

She whipped around the final corner to Ryan’s room. She heard a few muffled thumps and one short sound of pain that sounded like Ryan. Images of someone attacking him flashed through her mind’s eye.

“Hold on Ryan, I’m coming!” she shouted, shoving her shoulder against the door.

The door burst open and Jane stormed in. Ryan and Akmazian froze in their (compromising) position on the bed.

 _“Fuck,_ shit!” Jane shouted, covering her eyes and stumbling blindly backwards. She managed to make it outside the room and shut the door. She leaned against it, breathing deeply.

“What the shit was that?” she muttered to herself. “Oh my god.”

Of all the things she had imagined on the other side of that door, seeing Akmazian balls deep in Ryan was completely not one of them. _What the actual fuck._

From the other side of the door came muffled cursing, a creaking bed ( _oh my god_ , she thought) and a few moments of rustling. Ryan, crimson red and thankfully clothed, emerged from his room. Jane fought the urge to laugh (or maybe cry) when she saw he was wearing his own pants but Akmazian’s shirt.

“Jane, I am _so_ sorry you had to see that.”

“Yeah, me too,” she said weakly. Ryan almost laughed at that.

“Is that why you didn’t answer your comm?” she asked.

“Yeah. What else would it be?”

“I thought you were in danger. I thought…someone was attacking you. I was scared.”

“Oh. God, Jane, I’m sorry.”

Jane wiped away the residual tears on her face. “It’s…whatever. I don’t care. You didn’t have to tell your _best friend_ that you were seeing someone and avoid this whole situation, anyway.”

“Jane.”

Ryan sighed. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. It’s just…me and Akmazian are still really new and I just…wanted to keep it to myself for a little while. I’m really sorry.”

“New? How new?”

“Um,” he said, glancing at his watch. “Like. Eighteen hours ago new?”

“OH MY GOD! You put out that quick?”

“God, shut up. Yes, and because I feel so bad about the whole thing, you get permanent teasing right about it, okay?”

“Oh my god, this is the best day of my life! Akmazian, I really hope you’re not still naked because I’m coming back in!”

Akmazian was in fact decent, but clad in only pants.

“I’m sorry I interrupted earlier,” she said.

Akmazian shrugged. “Sorry for mentally scarring you.”

“Hey, I was there for the exploding penis day, too. I’ve already seen what Ryan has to offer. And I couldn’t see you very well because. Well.” She waggled her eyebrows at him.

Ryan made a squeak of embarrassment.

“Alright, moving on,” Jane said cheerfully. She pointed at Akmazian. “If you hurt him I’m telling the captain that you live here.” She swung her gaze to Ryan. “You better give Akmazian his shirt back, because you are both coming to a family dinner tonight.”

“No,” Ryan whispered, blood draining from his face. “No, not—“

“Oh, yes. You, me, your new _boyfriend_ there, Levi, and _Dr. Urvidian_.”

Ryan dropped his face into his hands. “Oh God.”

Jane smiled wickedly. “Oh, wait, I forgot someone. Your mother should be arriving at EOS 10 any moment. And you know how she sometimes just barges into a room without knocking. Better get cleaned up, boys. 1800 hours. Don’t be late!”

 

end

**Author's Note:**

> so i woke up yesterday and my first thought was "what if someone walked in on Akmazian balls deep in Ryan and that's how it became canon?" and here we are.


End file.
